Kurds retake villages around N Iraq town

Iraq’s Kurdish fighters have retaken three villages near the militant-held Kurdish town of Sinjar in the northern Iraqi Nineveh Province.

Kurdish Iraqi forces say they have launched an operation to retake the town, which first fell to the ISIL Takfiri terrorist group in August. A statement from the Kurdish Regional Security Council said Kurdish forces, known as Peshmerga, moved into the town on Wednesday.

Sinjar is home to the Kurdish Izadi minority, who had to flee an ISIL onslaught in August. The liberation of Sinjar would eventually open a humanitarian corridor for hundreds of Izadi Kurds, who have been stranded in Sinjar Mountains, and are still under the ISIL threat.

The Peshmerga forces said in September that they would focus on Sinjar after liberating the nearby towns of Rabia, Mahmoudiya, and Zumar.

Peshmergas have so far forced Takfiri terrorists to retreat from the villages close to the northern city of Mosul.

The ISIL terrorists control some parts of Syria and Iraq. They are engaged in crimes against humanity in the areas under their control. ISIL militants have terrorized and killed people of all communities, including Shias, Sunnis, Kurds, and Christians.